RT / In an era of trigger warnings, safe spaces and “no-platforming,” freedom of speech is curtailed to make sure no one is offended. From religion to transgender rights, RT UK looked at the issues deemed too controversial for discussion. The case for colonialism Bruce Gilley, a professor at Portland State University, is being subjected to a “hate campaign” after arguing there is a “case for colonialism.” Pointing to examples where the years after independence had been disastrous, he said withdrawal had created a “cesspool of human suffering.” He even went so far as to say in some cases, the return of western rule would not be a bad thing.

Read more Professor labelled ‘white supremacist’ for making ‘a case for colonialism’ “Who after all would really want to make an argument that Guinea-Bissau was better off without colonialism? Who would seriously argue that Hong Kong and Singapore are not great achievements of colonialism?” Gilley said in his essay for London-based academic journal Third World Quarterly.

The backlash has been severe. Gilley has been labelled a white supremacist and racist by his academic colleagues, several professors have launched a petition for the “appalling” essay to be taken down, 15 members of the journal’s 34-person editorial board resigned in protest, and the journal’s editor eventually withdrew the essay following death threats from Indian nationalists.

Gilley has hit back at his critics. “They include hundreds of tenured professors at universities in western countries whose professional and institutional charters insist on the protection of academic freedom and vigorous debate, especially when it comes to challenging orthodoxies,” he said.

‘Trans women are not women’ Read more Brawl between transgender activists and feminists leaves police searching for suspects Feminist and writer Germaine Greer has been banned from speaking on panels following her suggestion that a post-operative transgender woman “can’t be a woman.” Greer has spoken about “man’s delusion that he is female” saying that trans women are “some kind of ghastly parody” that will never be women because they do not know what it’s like to have a ” big, hairy, smelly vagina.”

Greer has been labelled a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and “no platformed” from university events. The policy means the National Union of Students (NUS) is able to ban individuals or groups with opinions deemed to be offensive from speaking on student grounds.

Australian-born Greer is regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Her 1970s bestselling book ‘The Female Eunuch’ became an important text in the feminist movement.

Gender discussions violate the safe space Heather Brunskell-Evans, a research fellow at King’s College London, was “no-platformed” in November after being invited to speak on the subject of pornography and the sexualization of young women. Days after appearing on the Moral Maze, a Radio 4 series hosted by Michael Buerk, she was told that the event had been cancelled because of concerns that her views on “transgender health… would violate the student union’s ‘Safe Space’ policy.”

Brunskell-Evans had argued in favor of transgender adults defining themselves “in whichever way they want” but questioned the advice being promoted to schools and youth groups by transgender organizations that positive affirmation was the only correct way to support children who expressed confusion over their gender.

Religion offence fears Attempts were also made by Warwick University students to get human-rights campaigner Maryam Namazie “no-platformed” over fears that her opinions would upset some students and “incite hatred.” The decision to ban the Iranian-born ex-Muslim who campaigns against Sharia law was overturned after intense public pressure.

Chief Executive for HOPE not Hate Nick Lowles was also reportedly “no-platformed” by the NUS last year on the grounds that he was seen to be ” Islamophobic. ” The anti-racism and fascism campaigner responded on social media that the NUS had “officially become a joke” after “ultra-left lunacy” stopped him from speaking at an anti-racism conference.

‘Islam is a force for evil’ Read more Richard Dawkins hits back at ‘abusive speech against Islam’ allegations British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins became embroiled in a free-speech row with American radio station KPFA in Berkeley after it dropped him from speaking and accused him of “abusive speech against Islam.” Local students dredged up a 2013 tweet from Dawkins that said: “Islam is the greatest force for evil in the world today.”

In an open letter, Dawkins called on the station to review his past remarks and apologize. He said he has “never used abusive speech against Islam,” and that he was “astonished” to be no-platformed by a station broadcasting in the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s.

Dawkins is an outspoken critic of organized religion and has provoked anger with comments aimed at numerous faiths and denominations. He also pointed out that he has been a “frequent critic of Christianity but have never been de-platformed for that.”

san fernando Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley prayed with members of the Muslim community and distributed zakat (charity) to the needy as he celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr at two masjids in San Fernando yesterday. He attended the Eid services on an invitation from Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein, who is also referred to as a…

gasparillo The mother of a disabled child was shot dead inside her apartment in Gasparillo yesterday. Ornella Philips, 28, was shot once in the chest. Her body was discovered lying in the living room around 10 a.m. The country’s murder toll now stands at 243. Her eight-year-old daughter, Kayla, has cerebral palsy and depends…

ISTANBUL (AP): Turkish police stopped activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights from gathering in large numbers for an LGBT Pride event in Istanbul yesterday, but smaller groups made impromptu press statements, defying a ban imposed by the governor. Organisers of the 2017 Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride had vowed to march in central Taksim…

LONDON (AP): The list of high-rise apartment towers in Britain that have failed fire-safety tests grew to 60, officials said yesterday, revealing the mounting challenge the government faces in the aftermath of London’s Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. All of the buildings for which external cladding samples were so far submitted failed combustibility tests, Communities Secretary…

BAHAWALPUR (AP): Alerted by an announcement over a mosque’s loudspeaker that an overturned tanker truck had sprung a leak, scores of villagers raced to the scene with fuel containers yesterday to gather the oil. Then the wreck exploded, engulfing people in flames as they screamed in terror. At least 153 men, women and children were…

WASHINGTON (AP): Making a final push, United States President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare”. Expressing frustration, he complained about “the level of hostility” in government and wondered why both parties can’t work together on the Senate bill…

While reliving the horrors experienced by so many families after another spate of bizarre violence across the country last week, I couldn’t help but picture Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett’s rictus grin plastered on television screens while the elderly and even suckling babes were being gruesomely slaughtered inside their homes. While the rest of us were…

RJR News / The Police High Command has highlighted the lack of public order in Montego Bay as one of the major problems to be addressed in the fight against crime in that city. “We recognise that the traffic congestion, the vending, the disorder in the town; we will have to take a far…

Trinidad Express / NEW YORK (AP) — A band of misfits known as the Goonies, a sinking ship, some baseball ghosts and the unrelenting New York cop John McClane are being added to the prestigious National Film Registry. The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that the films “The Goonies,” ”Titanic,” ”Field of Dreams” and “Die…

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Trinidad Express / A couple was arrested after police allegedly found more than $200,000 at their home on Tuesday. The 51 year old man and his 53 year old wife were arrested at the home at Thompson Road, Palmiste, Longdenville by officers of the Couva CID. Police said that investigations into a break in at…

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Trinidad Express / INFANT Soriah Martin did not die from a fall but from a bullet fired by a soldier. The soldier pulled the gun and fired on a man who as holding the child. Both were wounded. The child, who would have turned two next month, was shot in her abdomen. Gregory Harracksingh, 65,…

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Trinidad Express / No child should be left feeling unwanted on Christmas Day. And Under the Peepal Tree Ashram, a Hindu organisation, has proved that there are no barriers in religion to making a child happy. For almost three decades the Aranguez-based organisation has been visiting the St Mary’s Children’s Home in Tacarigua bringing Christmas…

Trinidad Express / Petit Trou is the last village a visitor must travel through to get to Toco’s Atlantic and Caribbean coastlines. Few even know the village exists because by the time you get there, your only thought is to pass it fast to reach the beach. However, if you were to turn into the…

MiamiHerald / Less than halfway through Florida’s lucrative stone crab season, traps are drying up, dealing another blow to a fishing industry still recovering from a beating delivered by a brutal Hurricane Irma. “Everybody’s feeling it,” said Walter Flores, owner of the Golden Rule Seafood in Palmetto Bay, which has been selling and serving stone…

MiamiHerald / For all you space buffs, many factors are falling in your favor Wednesday night if viewing the annual December Geminid meteor shower is on the agenda. South Florida skies are forecast to remain clear and cool into Friday, the National Weather Service says. The annual Leonid meteor shower made stardust memories above South…

Jamaica Gleaner / The Economic Growth Council (EGC) will be looking to effect immediate economic expansion with three primary veins of focus to deliver 2.3 per cent growth by next year, says the newly appointed executive director of the council Aubyn Hill. Hill’s appointment was made public by Prime Minister Andrew Holness during a press conference…

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Jamaica Gleaner / The Privy Council has overturned a decision by Jamaica’s appeal court that GraceKennedy two decades ago stole Paymaster’s business plan and used it as the model on which it establish its own bill-payment firm, BillExpress. “The board is persuaded that the Court of Appeal erred in overturning (Justice Roy) Jones’ conclusions on…

MiamiHerald / Less than halfway through Florida’s lucrative stone crab season, traps are drying up, dealing another blow to a fishing industry still recovering from a beating delivered by a brutal Hurricane Irma. “Everybody’s feeling it,” said Walter Flores, owner of the Golden Rule Seafood in Palmetto Bay, which has been selling and serving stone…

MiamiHerald / For all you space buffs, many factors are falling in your favor Wednesday night if viewing the annual December Geminid meteor shower is on the agenda. South Florida skies are forecast to remain clear and cool into Friday, the National Weather Service says. The annual Leonid meteor shower made stardust memories above South…

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Jamaica Gleaner / The National Works Agency (NWA) is advising extreme caution along some roads in Trelawny. Heavy rains had left some roads impassable, last evening. The NWA said the road between Duncans and Clarke’s Town at Long Pond was impassable. It also said the road to Albert Town was flooded at Level Bottom. Jackson Town…

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Jamaica Gleaner / The Justice Ministry is to outline today the process the government will use to pay out millions of dollars in compensation to victims and their families of the 2010 police-military operation in West Kingston. The details are to be disclosed during a press conference at 2 o’clock this afternoon. Justice Minister Delroy…

Jamaica Gleaner / The Spanish Town link road and Windsor Road intersection in St Catherine will once again be managed by traffic signals when the National Works Agency (NWA) recommissions the lights today. The lights have not been working for more than a year after some 400 meters of cable were stolen. NWA Customer Services and…

MiamiHerald / The type of weather on the night March 13, 2016, is the reason people want to live in the Keys. The temperature was around 70 degrees, not a hint of humidity and a field of bright, shining stars occupied the clear, dark sky. “It was beautiful out. I toyed with the idea of…

Jamaica Information / Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, addresses a ceremony for the reopening of the renovated Balaclava Health Centre in St. Elizabeth on Thursday, December 7. + – Photo: Claudia Gardner Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, addresses a ceremony for the reopening of the renovated Balaclava Health Centre…